Apparatus for multiple well drilling



Nov. 21, 1961 H. J. WOOLSLAYER ET AL 3,009,547

APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLE WELL DRILLING Original Filed Dec. 23, 1955 2 Sheets-Shee t l INVENTORS Nov. 21, 1961 H. J. WOOLSLAYER ET AL 3,009,547

' APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLE WELL DRILLING Original Filed Dec. 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS flat/59 MWZJZAVEK, CIC/l JEA/HA J wafer-c. mxmzm/mwmfmokw United States Patent @9547 APPAlRATU FUR MULTIPLE WELL DRILLING Homer J. Woolslayer, Cecil Jenkins, Robert t1. Maxwell, and John W. Born, all of Tulsa, Okla, assignors to Lee C. Moore Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa, 21 corporation of Pennsylvania @riginal application Dec. 23, 1955, Ser. No. 555,tl230, new Patent No. 2,S4tl,l98, dated June 24, 1958. Divided and this application Apr. 9, 195B, der. No. 730,4l38 4 Claims. (Cl. 18915) This invention relates to the drilling of two or more oil wells close together without moving the base on which the drilling apparatus is mounted. It is a iivision of our copending application, Serial Number 555,080, filed December 23, 1955, new Patent No. 2,840,198.

For many years there have been two general ways of drilling oil Wells. Gne way has been to erect a conventional oil well derrick and drill a well with it, and then either leave the derrick for service work and build a new one for the neXt well, or dismantle the derrick and rebuild it at the second well. The other system has been to use a portable mast which is moved from one location to an other along with its base or substructure and all of the drilling equipment. Recently a new practice has grown up in certain locations, according to which two or more wells are drilled close together without moving the derrick and its base. Modern drilling methods permit wells to be drilled as close as only a few feet apart at their upper ends. As the wells descend they curve away from one another toward the desired underground locations. in such an operation it has been necessary to use a derrick that is large at top and bottom so that the crown block can be shifted to different locations on top of the derrick to position it over the locations of the different wells that are to be drilled within the confines of the bottom of the derrick. This multiple well drilling practice has developed because of the extremely high cost of preparing drilling sites in such locations as ofi-shore and mountain sides. Such a derrick obviously is a massive and very expensive structure that also has the same objections as conventional derricks used in single well drilling.

It is among the objects ofthis invention to provide a method and apparatus for drilling a plurality of closely spaced wells without moving the base that supports the drilling equipment, in which a portable mast is used that is no larger than necessary for drilling a single well, and in which the top of the mast can readily be shifted from above one well location to another without lowering the mast.

In accordance with this invention a substructure or base is provided which can be placed in fixed position over the site of a line of two or more wells that are to be drilled. An upright drilling mast is located on the base in position to drill a well. Mounted on the base beside the mast there is a gin pole which is used in raising the mast and supporting it. There is a pivotal support for the mast so that it can be tilted to locate the upper end of the mast in another well-drilling position, in which means are provided for holding the mast. This pivotal support may be either on the gin pole or on the base. When all of the drilling has been completed, the gin pole aids in swinging the mast down to reclining position for removal from the base.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of our well drilling apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line lI-II of FIG. 1;

FlG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the mast taken at platform level;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the mast shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail drawing showing the conice nection between the upper part of a brace and the adjoining boom.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the mast is formed from two laterally spaced booms E that are inclined upwardly toward each other from a base 46 and support a crown block 47, from which a traveling block 56 is suspended. The lower ends of the booms are hinged to the base in shoes 48. The base extends lengthwise of the line of wells that are to be drilled; that is, the base extends forward from the drawworks (not shown) along the line of wells.

A gin pole is located behind the mast. It has nearly vertical back legs 49 mounted in rear shoes 50 a considerable distance behind the mast shoes, and inclined front legs 51 that slope down from the top of the rear legs to shoes 52 (FIG. 4) mounted between the mast shoes. The mast may be raised from its dotted line reclining position by a sling 53, attached to the back of the mast and extending back around sheaves 54- carried by the top of the gin pole and then forward again under sheaves 55 mounted in the back of the mast. This lower end of the sling is connected to the traveling block 56 in the mast. When the block is pulled toward the crown block in the usual way by the drawworks (not shown), the mast is swung upward on its shoe 4-8 to upright operative position, which may be vertical or slightly inclined.

To hold the mast upright, it leans against the upper ends of a pair of trussed braces 57, the lower ends of which are pivoted to the top of the gin pole. The braces are rigidly connected to the upper part of the mast booms to hold them in place, by means of connection plates 58 (FIG. 5) secured to the uper ends of the braces and removably bolted to the booms. The plates are provided with holes that will align with corresponding holes in the booms for each drilling position of the mast.

After the mast has been erected, a racking platform is hoisted up to the proper level and connected to one of the braces and booms. The platform includes a narrow horizontal frame 61 extending lengthwise of the base and from which a footboard 62 and the pipe racking rake 63 project toward the opposite side of the mast, as shown in FlG. 2. The front end of the frame is pivotally connected at 64 to the adjoining boom, shown in FIG. 3, and the rear end of the frame is detachably connected to one of three pairs of brackets 66, 6'7 and 68 projecting forward from the lower surface of an inclined channel 69 mounted in the adjoining brace 57. The three pairs of brackets are so positioned that when the mast is in the position shown in FIG. 1, the platform frame should be connected to the middle pair. When the mast is swung to its forward position, the platform will be fastened to the upper pair of brackets. The lower pair is used when the mast is drilling the rear well. In each position the platform will be substantially horizontal.

PEG. 1 of the drawings shows the mast in a position for drilling a second well. The first well was drilled with the mast in the more vertical dotted line position and with the rake and footboard of the racking platform moved farther forward on the frame, as is indicated in broken lines in FIG. 2. After the first two wells have been drilled, the top of the mast is disconnected from the braces while it is held by a snubbing line, and then the mast is allowed to tilt farther backward to the rear dotted line position in FIG. 1, where it is again secured to the upper ends of the braces. The racking platform is adjusted accordingly for drilling operations in this position of the mast. platform removed, the mast is disconnected from the upper ends of the braces and is pulled forward by the snubbing line until the sling is put under tension. Then the mast is lowered to reclining position by allowing the traveling block to descend in the mast.

After all three wells have been drilled and the With the apparatus just described, a line of at least three wells can be drilled without moving the base or the gin pole. In addition to being able to use a portable onewell type of mast that can be swung up and down between reclining and upright positions, another advantage of this apparatus is that several wells can be drilled without movig the crown block relative to the mast and without lowering the mast.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for drilling a line of closely spaced wells, comprising a base adapted to be placed in fixed position over the site of said wells and extending lengthwise of said line, a gin pole rigidly mounted thereon, a drilling mast having from and back sides with its lower end hinged to the base in front of the gin pole for swinging the mast from a reclining position in front of the base up toward the gin pole to operative position, an upwardly extending stiff brace having its lower end pivoted to the top of the gin pole a considerable distance behind the raised mast, the other end of the brace being adjustable along the upper portion of the back side of the mast, the mast leaning against the brace, and means for fastening said other end of the brace to the raised mast in different predetermined positions lengthwise of the mast, whereby the raised mast can be braced in difie-rent positions relative to the gin pole for drilling a plurality of wells without moving the base.

2. Apparatus for drilling a line of closely spaced wells, comprising a base adapted to be placed in fixed position over the site of said wells and extending lengthwise of said line, a gin pole rigidly mounted thereon, a drilling mast having its lower end hinged to the base in front of the gin pole, a stiff brace having a lower end pivoted to the top of the gin pole a considerable distance behind the mast, the mast and brace being inclined upward toward each other, means for fastening the upper end of the brace to the upper portion of the mast in different predetermined positions lengthwise of the mast to vary the inclination of the mast so that a plurality of wells can be drilled without moving the base, a pipe racking platform located below said fastening means, and means connectable with the gin pole and operable when the brace is unfastened from the mast for swinging the mast and brace forward on their lower ends in order to lower the mast to reclining position with the brace located above the mast.

3. Apparatus 'for drilling a line of closely spaced wells, comprising a base adapted to be placed in fixed position over the site of said wells and extending lengthwise of said line, a gin pole rigidly mounted on the base, a drilling mast formed from two laterally spaced booms having their upper ends rigidly connected and their lower ends hinged to the base in front of the gin pole, a pair of laterally spaced braces having their lower ends pivoted to the top of the gin pole behind said boms, the mast and braces being inclined upward toward each other, and means for fastening the upper ends of the braces to the upper portions of said booms in different predetermined positions lengthwise of the mast to vary the inclination of the mast so that a plurality of wells can be drilled without moving said base.

4. Apparattis for drilling a line of closely spaced wells, comprising a base adapted to be placed in fixed position over the site of said wells and extending lengthwise of said line, a gin pole rigidly mounted thereon, a drilling mast having front and back sides with its lower end hinged to the base in front of the gin pole for swinging the mast from a reclining position in front of the base up toward the gin pole to operative position, a brace having one end pivoted to the top or" the gin pole a considerable distance behind the raised mast, the other end of the brace being adjustable along the upper portion of the back side of the mast, the mast leaning against the brace, means for fastening said other end of the brace to the raised mast in different predetermined positions lengthwise of the mast, whereby the raised mast can be braced in different positions relative to the gin pole for drilling a plurality of wells without moving the base, and a pipe racking platform supported by the mast and brace between them below said fastening means, one end of the platform being pivotally supported and the other end being adjustable vertically so that the platform can be maintained level in all of said drilling positions of the mast.

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